Various devices are operated based on a lithium halide/water, and preferably lithium bromide/water cycle. Many years of experience have shown that the use of 2-ethyl-n-hexanol has a very substantial favorable influence on the capacity of such devices, and an improvement of up to about 50 percent in capacity, with improvements in efficiency and reliability, is attained by the use of such additive. Other alcohols of organic compounds having similar properties can be used for this purpose.
The 2-ethyl-n-hexanol has a smaller density than water and is not soluble in or miscible with water. Thus this additive tends to form a surface layer on top of the aqueous lithium halide (lithium bromide or lithium chloride) layer. The ethyl hexanol floats at the surface, particularly in the absorber and in the evaporator of machines of this type: in the absorber on top of the LiBr layer, and in the evaporator on top of the water layer. This prevents the circulation of this additive through the machine and reduces its beneficial effect, and the efficiency is reduced. Due to this effect the machine operates not at peak efficiency, and it is necessary in conventional devices to add from time to time additional 2-ethyl-n-hexanol, which is also a quite expensive substance. Hitherto no effective means have been provided for maintaining the said additive in circulation, at its full capacity.